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The back-ups stole the show on Sunday for the Chicago Bears.
Tyson Bagent got his first start in nearly three years, and led the Bears' offense. But, the back-up running back made a case that he should get more looks.
Meanwhile, the defense took care of business.
Here's how we graded the Bears in their Sunday afternoon win over the New York Jets.
Bears’ offense
The finish line was an issue for the Bears’ offense.
They moved the ball and moved it at a decent clip. But, that’s not enough. They needed to put points on the board and struggled in that endeavor for the third three quarters.
The Bears won the time of possession battle by a large margin and gained over
When the Bears’ offense turned the ball over, they did it three times. First was a turnover on downs from the one-yard line. That’s a tough pill to swallow, especially when the Bears couldn’t get one yard.
The next two were an interception by Tyson Bagent and a fumble by D’Andre Swift. That pinned the Bears’ defense back and gave way to two field goals.
Bagent’s interception lacked zip and was taken away. Swift just lost the ball on his fumble. Either way, the offense was gaining yards but it wasn’t finishing drives.
This should have been a 27-3 game as the game entered the fourth quarter. In the end, the Bears had the ball for 42:07 of game time and gained 492 yards of offense. They have 23 points to show for it.
But, the Bears’ offense couldn’t capitalize on goal-to-go from the one-yard line and had two giveaways that gave the Jets a chance to make this a game.
Grade: C
Bears’ defense
The Bears’ defense didn’t record a turnover. They did hold the line, though.
When the Bears’ offense pinned them back and thrust the defense’s back against the wall with two turnovers, the defense responded by holding the Jets to two short field goals.
Aside from that, the Bears’ defense was stout all day. The Jets only had 32 yards of offense going into halftime. They entered the fourth quarter without having converted a third down. Geno Smith had 61 yards passing with 10 minutes to play in the game.
Tyrique Stevenson did get torched for a 58-yard touchdown. That’s the biggest blemish on the day for a unit that has been playing well since allowing 37 points in Week 1.
Grade: B
Tyson Bagent
Bagent’s first start since the 2023 season ended in a win. He distributed the ball around. His first drive of the game should have ended in a touchdown.
The Bears couldn’t punch it in.
The biggest ding on Bagent’s day were the three interceptions that he threw. The first was a screen pass that T’Vondre Sweat swiped out of midair; that was negated due to a Jets’ penalty.
The second was a floated pass that should have had more zip on it. Minkah Fitzpatrick read it easily and snatched it. The third and fourth were grabbed by Brandon Stephens and D’Angelo Ponds, that those were negated due to penalties.
It wasn’t a bad day for Bagent. He still threw for over 200 yards and was efficient with his completion percentage.
He did what a back-up quarterback was supposed to do. He just needs to speed up his processing clock by a second. That comes with experience.
Grade: C
Kyle Monangai
This feels like D’Andre Swift’s running offense, but on a day like Sunday it’s hard not to envision what Monangai can do with a featured role.
The second-year back out of Rutgers churned yards. He went over 100 yards for the first time this season, and had two scores. He should have had three, but the Bears couldn’t punch it on third and goal in the fourth quarter.
He broke his career high with 27 carries with 5:52 left to go in the game and is becoming a dependable runner who the Bears can trust with the ball in his hands.
Grade: A+
The Source: Analysis is from Fox Chicago's Chris Kwiecinski, who covered the game at Soldier Field.